Search the The Journal

Account info

Graduation Earning an education is a long trip with many companions

Saturday, May 28, 2011 6:01 AM

Congratulations to the areas graduates.

In late spring, quite a few young people move up a rank, graduating from preschool, middle school or high school, or earning college degrees and vocational certificates. That accomplishment is the result of a great deal of hard work by a lot people.

The graduates deserve credit first, because the accomplishment belongs to them. School isnt always the most exciting place to spend time, especially during adolescence. Showing up and doing the work are the keys to success in almost all of lifes endeavors; those lessons, learned early, will provide a lifelong benefit.

Anyone who has attended graduation knows that such events practically fizz with hopes and dreams. Many of our young people know where they want to go and what they want to be and do. If the adults in their lives can provide clear pathways and can help them see the connections between school assignments now and fulfilling careers years down the road, the students are willing to pour themselves into the effort.

Parents deserve credit for laying the groundwork. Students succeed best when their parents value education and who are both willing and able to provide tools and opportunities. Thats true everywhere, but its especially obvious in districts like Montezuma-Cortez Re-1, where parental motivation and resources vary.

Educators are tasked with teaching all children, even those whose parents are not educational partners. Educating students whose basic needs  a safe and stable home, healthy food, parents who commit to getting them to school on time every day  are not met is a daunting challenge. Its also one that local teachers take on every day. Every graduation ceremony displays the results. Despite obvious disadvantages, our school districts provide many of their students with the skills they need to move on to higher education and well-paying jobs.

Many is not the same as all. When students and parents and educators dont manage to accomplish that goal, the larger community pays the price in many ways: a shortage of qualified workers, unemployment among the underqualified, lower participation in community growth, higher rates of unpaid care at the hospital, higher crime rates and so on.

Education matters. It supports everything else that happens. Thats why communities that support their schools well are better places to live and work.

That doesnt mean providing unlimited budgets. It doesnt mean saying yes to everything a district requests. Thats not a good way to raise children; theres no reason to believe its a good way to fund schools. But just as raising children costs money, so does educating them. It requires an investment in a shared future.

At graduation time, the community begins to collect on its investment. We applaud everyone who has worked toward this future, and we wish our students all the best as they take their first steps out into the world.